Fort Lee Falters in Fourth in 35-30 Loss to Cliffside Park

In a physical, edge-of-your-seat season opener, the Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen lost to the Cliffside Park Red Raiders 35-30 in girls varsity basketball on Tuesday night.   

Senior Bindi Parikh tallied a game high 14 points, but it wasn't enough as Cliffside Park mounted a late fourth-quarter comeback for the victory.

"We panicked a little," said senior Brianna Mattessich on the final few minutes. "We turned over the ball a lot, and it's a tough situation. But we've got to get past it."

Cliffside Park outscored Fort Lee 9-2 in the final quarter of the win, but Fort Lee coach Stacie Zafiris was still very proud of her team.

"[They] gave everything they had," said the third year coach. "They just came up a little short."

Fort Lee held the lead for nearly the entire first half until Tina Scala made a jumper just before the end of the second quarter.

One of the reasons for the comeback was Cliffside Park's ability to rebound and turn the extra opportunities into points.

"We needed to box out," Parikh said. "We still could have improved on [rebounding]."

As the minutes started to count down, Parikh's scoring total started to go up. The senior accounted for eight of the team's last ten points.

"She stepped up for us [with] her shots, just draining them," said Mattessich.  "We needed that. She is a big part of the team."

The Fort Lee coaching staff also admired Parikh's play.

"No matter what the score is…she'll give 150 percent effort," Zafiris said. "She plays hard for four quarters, gives everything she has and that is one thing that I will always admire about her."

The Lady Bridgemen were also mired in foul trouble throughout the game, which cut the minutes of Anthe Nikolaidis, Megan Gimson and Parikh. All three eventually fouled out of the game before the final buzzer.

"I thought the fouls were unbalanced, but that is not an excuse," Zafiris said. "Had we not given them those second and third opportunities then fouls wouldn't have mattered, because we would have ended up winning the game easily."

Instead, the Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen drop to 0-1 this season with a continuation of the Bergenfield game that was suspended when a referee collapsed on the court scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m.

Senior Denise Hadzovic had a team-high 11 points for the Red Raiders, including five points in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Guard Brianna Mattessich also finished with seven points for Fort Lee who are already looking to the next time they take the court.

"There is a lot to work on," said Mattessich, just minutes after the loss. "We're going to get it in practice tomorrow."